THE SFA last night dismissed Mike Ashley as ‘delusional’ after the Newcastle owner was forced to drop legal action against them at the Court of Session - only to claim afterwards that he was in fact the winner.

And, after they did officially pull the plug on their own petition yesterday morning, judge Lord Bannatyne left Ashley sweating on whether he will be forced to cover the legal costs incurred by both the Hampden beaks and King. A bill which could run into hundreds of thousands.

But while the game’s governing body was celebrating the collapse of Ashley’s case, the bullish billionaire was busy issuing a bizarre statement to Record Sport in which he claimed the defeat was, in actual fact, a victory - and hinting of impropriety and collusion between the SFA and King’s regime.

Mike Ashley

A spokesman for Ashley’s business empire MASH Holdings said: “We are delighted that the wall of secrecy surrounding the SFA’s decision declare Dave King a “fit and proper person” is finally crumbing.

“As a result of legal action concluded today, the SFA has been forced to divulge documents in private to us that reveal the true reasons behind this controversial decision.

“This represents a significant victory for MASH and we believe there is a strong public interest in this information now also being made available by the SFA to all football fans. We therefore urge the SFA to come clean with the public about all its dealings in relation to Dave King.”

One high level SFA insider responded to Ashley’s release by branding the controversial businessman as ‘delusional’. It’s understood the reaction to Ashley’s comments on Hampden’s sixth floor was scathing.

And later last night the SFA released the following statement to the Daily Record.

It read: ““Ordinarily, we would be loath to respond to such a disingenuous statement but in the interests of transparency and accuracy, it should be made abundantly clear it was MASH who today chose to abandon their ill-founded litigation.

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“We have been consistent all along that the process of determining Mr Dave King’s Fit and Proper request, submitted via an amendment to Rangers FC’s Official Return, was conducted in the correct and appropriate manner.

“Indeed, at the time, we outlined the unprecedented scale of the due diligence undertaken, befitting the complexities of the consideration placed before our Board. This was released to the media and stated that this diligence involved communication with the relevant authorities in South Africa and the United Kingdom.

“As part of the recent litigation process we elected - with the consent of Mr King - to provide certain confidential information expanding on our statement. There was never any obligation for us to do so and we were certainly never “forced” to do so. This is a matter of fact and legal record.

“It is regrettable that we found ourselves in an unnecessary Judicial Review process in the first place: one that serves only to absorb Scottish football’s time, money and human resource which could otherwise have been utilised for the good of the game. The same applies to responding to these unedifying comments.”

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The information at the heart of the dispute is understood to have been a letter from the South African tax authorities clearing King’s name despite a long running legal dispute over unpaid tax.

Ashley’s camp had argued that King’s long running legal battle with the taxman - which ended in 41 convictions and a cash settlement of almost £44m - made a mockery of the decision to pass him as a fit and proper person.

But they were forced to U-turn on that stance earlier this week when, under the procedure laid down for the judicial review, the SFA’s legal team provided them with a copy of King’s ‘certificate of good standing’ from SARS.

It was after discovering that the South African taxman had vouched for King’s credentials that Ashley’s lawyers were left with no option but to back down.

They then argued that Ashley should not be forced to cover the legal costs of all parties - a bill which will run into several hundred thousand pounds.

But Lord Bannatyne will now decide on this matter before giving his verdict in writing.

Rangers Chairman Dave King (Image: Getty Images)

In the most bewildering part of the statement from MASH, King’s position at the head of the club’s PLC board - not the club’s football board - is also questioned.

It continues: “MASH notes that the SFA did not approve Dave King to be a director of the football club (The Rangers Football Club Limited, the body which has membership of the SFA), but instead only approved him as a director of the club’s holding company (Rangers International Football Club plc).

“We find it astonishing that Mr King talks and acts as if he runs Rangers, whilst at the same time his lawyers claim he is not a de facto director of The Rangers Football Club Limited.”

Although King declined to comment Rangers insider said: “The football board is answerable to the PLC board. In fact, previously, Ashley’s old ally Sandy Easdale could only have a seat on the football board as opposed to the PLC board precisely because he would not have been cleared as fit and proper.